Whisper of the Ocean

       In late April, I was able to help throw a surprise Engagement Party for one of my best friends! I had so much fun creating the decor! She was so surprised and continues to glow every time anyone mentions the engagement or her fiancee! I love seeing her as happy as she is right know and I am so excited that I will get to watch her experience this feeling day-after-day as we inch closer to her wedding day. Dress fittings for her and us, party planning, more decor prep and all the rest that comes with planning a wedding await us! It is so much fun. :)

     Mid-May meant the running of the musical I was assistant directing. 63-5th graders, 3 adults and many other assisting hands led to a wonderful performance. The kids worked extremely hard and their work paid off. Even though 'Peter Pan' had some rough patches, I still enjoyed watching the kids really bring Never Land alive for the audience.



Entrance for Act 2



      Each night the audience grew and since the kids drew their energy from them, they got better and better as the nights went.

      I'm still gathering pictures from the show but for now, here is a great action shot of our wonderful Tiger Lily- Indian Princess:

      After closing night we took the kids up to our Peter Pan's house and had our cast party. I think they enjoyed that more than they enjoyed the actual show. After a couple of hours screaming, laughing and singing, the few adults that were there were exhausted.

      As Spring-term comes to a close I look and see some of the crazy moments and although they are a lot of fun, I have learned to appreciate the calm days too. Memorial Day was one of those days for me. 3 cars, 14 ladies, 4 bridges, 2 tunnels and a plethora of badly sung Disney and One Direction songs later and I can officially call our coast trip a success! My car spent the entire trip to Florence blasting Disney music and belting out the classic lyrics that everyone loves. Once we finally got to our beach we spent a couple hours climbing rocks, searching in tide pools and taking pictures with each other. We decided that we had enough of the sand and wanted to stroll down Old Town so we went rummaging through super cute shops, drank some coffee and even made a couple of purchases before heading to pizza for dinner. After demolishing our couple of pizzas it was time to make our way home and blast some more music while munching on our sour patch kids. Here are a few pictures from our day:



"These are the days the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in them." Psalm 118:24

Courtney

Still Teachable

I'm back! I feel like it has been an extremely long time since I last blogged and it kind of has. Here's an update on my life: I continue have an extremely busy life and I struggle to balance everything and some things slip between the cracks but luckily there are many gracious people in my life. Currently I devote my time to my many hours of working and volunteering at my second home: my wonderful church. I also work 2 or three days a week at the candy store and I am a full time student. Most people would say I am crazy for taking on all of that and I'm about to blow your mind! I am also assistant director of a musical of 5th graders at the local elementary school that opens mid-May.

I am so excited about my future teaching career and I am currently taking a class to help me investigate how to practice good teaching skills. I've learned a lot already and wanted to share some of the highlights not only for my own record but to hopefully influence the teaching skills of my friends who are teachers or maybe those going to school to be teachers. :)

Here's what I've learned recently:

No Opt Out:

• This is a useful tool for helping earnest, striving students who are trying hard to find an answer but genuinely don't know it and it helps eliminate the possibility of some students opting out and muttering "I don't know" in the hopes that the teacher will leave them alone and not call on them.
• The core belief: the sequence should should begin with the student unable to answer the question and then end with the same student giving the right answer even if they only repeat the correct answer from another student. This helps the students realize that ou aren't going to let them fail and that you want o see them succeed.

Right is Right:

• The job of the teacher is to set a high standard for correctness: 100%
• Do not sign off and tell a student she is right if she gets the answer wrong or only partially right, she must not be betrayed into thinking she can do something she cannot.
• Don't "round up" your student's answers. Do not give their answers fluff to make them more correct. Have them elaborate until the answer is completely correct.
• Tell your students that they are almost there-
• Hold out for all the way.
• Have them answer the full question.
• Right answer, right time- make sure they answer the question you are asking and not another.
• Have them use technical vocabulary and help prompt them if they can't remember the vocab.

Stretch It:

• Learning can and should continue after a correct answer has been given.
• Reward right answers with questions.
• Reward right answers with follow-up questions that extend knowledge and test for reliability. Asking frequent, targeted, rigorous questions of students as they demonstrate mastery is a powerful and much simpler tool for differentiating.
• Ask how or why.
• Ask for another way to answer.
• Ask for a better word.
• Ask for evidence.
• Ask students to integrate a related skill.
• Ask students to apply the same skill in a new setting.
• Stretch it keeps students on their toes: to explain their thinking or apply teaching in new ways.

Last but not least,
Begin with the End:

• Start your lesson plans with the objective.
• Framing your objective forces you to ask what your students will get out of the material.
• Why are you teaching the material you are teaching?
• What is the outcome you desire?
• How does this outcome relate to what you'll teach?
• Think of your lessons as part of a larger unit that developed ideas intentionally and incrementally towards mastery of larger concepts.

This is just the tip of the iceburg. I can't wait to be a teacher! :D

Rejuvenated

Had an extremely long day today. From classes (8-3) in which I had three tests, to work where I had a billion pieces of data to update into our system. I was feeling greatly exhausted. At that point I was going to sit down in a comfy chair and pass out, which I would have done had there not been a few lovely, chatty, young women who decided to join me in my place of solitude. When all I wanted to do was sleep they decided it was time to share life stories.

I honestly didn't know much about these young women and I learned a lot about their pasts. I also got to hear about how school is going. It's interesting to hear how classes work at high schools other than my alma mater. The interactions between people are, of course exactly the same. It's stories like those that make me realize how grateful I am to not be in high school any longer.

At this point in the night I had seemed to gain a little bit more energy and my typical chatty, outgoing self. I still wasn't up for running around or dancing. The youth pastor gathered us all together and suggest we start our service a few minutes early. All we were going to do was pray. Walk around, find a seat, gather with friends... Whatever we wanted to do. My first thought "Great... walking and talking at the same time... I'm SO not coordinated enough for this!" I fell into partciation just as everyone else did and imediately felt struck with words I needed to say. What seemed most shocking to me was that even when I was most tired I had words to say that came out with great force.

We began worship after that where once again I was astounded to find my self more energized as I danced, sang, shouted and clapped. Who gets more energized the longer they dance? We had a lesson planned for after that but we found that social interaction was more beneficial for the group. Talking and laughing closed out the night.



Epic Youth Group @ Eugene Christian Fellowship



All I can say is that I am very thankful for the strength and happiness instilled in me from the Lord! Can't thank Him enough!!! Such a wonderful evening. :)

The Little Things

As I sit here reflecting on my last week or so, I can't help but feel so thankful for everything that I have!

My grandmother visited last week and even though I was sick, I was happy to see her. Since she lives in So. California I don't get to see her very often but I enjoyed the time I had with her.

I seem to be getting  into the swing of things as school progresses. I am slowly able to schedule things to fit around school and work but can't help but feel that things might be slipping through the cracks. Lists have become my favorite thing because it's the only way to make sure everything is getting done!

I feel like I'm always moving from one thing to the next but yesterday (Sunday) I had the oportunity to just sit and talk to a couple of amazing people. Just and hour to sit and relax... sit and learn... sit and share. Just an hour was all it took to get me refreshed!

Every Sunday I babysit a family of 5 kids. Even though I can be overwhelmed at times, there are other times that make me feel so at peace. Every Sunday one of the little boys BEGS me to listen as he reads the bible before bed. Hearing his sweet little voice as he struggles to understand the basic concepts of the bible... awesome! How wonderful the little moments are.

Just take a minute to enjoy the little moments in life.